Building-block.



W. W. GRIFFIN.

BUILDING BLOCK.

APPLICATION man MAY 3, 1916.

' 1,297, 1 51 f Patented Mar. 11, 1919.

WILLIAM W. GRIFFIN, OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA.

BUILDING-snoei;

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Mai. 11, 1919.

Application med May 3, 1916. serial No. 95,157.

concrete structures, and more'especially to walls which are made up of blocks and plastic materials and reinforced with metal;

and the object of the same is-to produce a hollow or cellular building block whose bore or cells are closed to an extent to prevent the mortar or cement from falling through them. A further object is to produce a Wall made up of building blocks of this character united by a metal reinforced iiiiler applied to each course of blocks as These objects are carried outiby the construction described below and shown in the drawings wherein Figure 1 is a vertical section and Fig. 2 an elevation of a portion of a Wall built with these blocks; and Fig. 3 is a plan view of a portion of a curved wall built therewith.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective detail of one of the blocks, and Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional detail through the same, while Fig,` 6 is a perspective detail of a sheet metal plate which is to be employed as the ledge described below.

The building block best shown in Figs. 4 and 5 is hollow, having outer and inner upright walls 1 and 2 connected by upright end walls 3. As herein shown this block has a Vlongitudinal upright partition 4 and two transverse partitions 5, thus making the block not only hollow but cellular; but while one longitudinal partition and two transverse' partitions are shown so as to produce six cells 6, I do not wish to be limited in this respect. The longitudinal partition 4 might be omitted entirely so that the cells would extend completely across from the inner to the outer wall, there might be but a single transverse partition 5 so that the.

block would contain only two cells, or if all partitions were omitted the sin le cell would be the bore of the block itse f. In shape the' block is preferably rectangular about as'shown in Fig. 4', and its walls will be straight when a straight wall is to be built as seen in Figs. 1 `and 2 or slightly curved when a curved wall is to bje tbuilt as seen in Fig. 3. The proportions and materials, and other details of this kind, do not enter into the present invention.

Heretofore considerable difficulty has been experienced in building Walls with blocks of this type because as they are laid on end in courses which break joint as seen in Fig. 2, the mortar or cement applied to the edges of the block Walls and their partitions' falls through the cells to a large extent. Such as falls outside or inside may be recovered and used, but what falls into the cells lodges therein and fills the hollow blocks near the bottom of the wall. Moreover the adhesive properties of this mortar or cement are used only where the upper edges of the walls and partitions in the blocks of one course aline with the lower edges of the walls and partitions in the blocks of the course above, and the result is that the adhesion of blocks in diierent courses is not very strong. Finally, when it is desired to reinforce a wall built up of blocks of this character, much diiculty was found in thoroughly embedding the reinforcing band or strip in or completely surrounding it with cement or mortar, and the .result was that the reinforce often made Contact with the brittle portion of the block itself. It is one purpose of the present invention to avoid these difficulties as far as possible.

In the upper edges of the end walls are cut notches 10 and 11, and in the upper edges of the transverse partitions are cut registering notches l2. If there be a longitudinal partition as shown at 4, these notches will be at one side of such partition and preferably at the outer side thereof; and if the block has no transverse partitions 5, the notches 12 are ofcourse omitted and the end notches 10 and l1 register with each other as will be understood. A reinforcing element 15 is to be placed in these notches as soon as one course of blocks'is laid, as best seen in Fig. 1. In this View the element 15 at the top of the upper course is an upright band or strap of metal, in' the next course it is shown as two rods, in the next course below it is a single rod, and in the lower course it is a plurality of rods or wires which may be twisted tgether. I do not Wish to be limited as to the nature of this reinforcing have suiioient strength to support the volume QP e 1,297,151

element, and will probably employ two parallel wires or rods as seen in Fig. 3. In Fig. 6 is shown a plate -16 which is of sheet metal having at its edges upturned flanges 17, and in Fig. 5 is shown a ledge 18 closing the cell 6 just below the bottom of the 4notch 12. This ledge may be variously formed, but in Fig. 5 it is supposed to be the plate 16 of Fig. 6 forced down into the cell with the flanges binding against the several walls of such cell. I would not be limited in this respect, however, because instead of a plate I might use a sheet of wire mesh, cardboard,

of the like; or, in fact, I might form the ledge Within the Cell at the time the block is cast, las b3 molding ribs around or bars` across sai cell. The general idea is that such ledge shall wholly or partly interrupt the cell on a transverse line just below the bottom of the notch 12, and the ledge must of vmortar or cement which surrounds the reinforce 15 and rests upon the ledge, as seen at 19 in Fig. l. It is quite within the scope of this invention that such a ledge be `made by the mason at thetime he lays the wall, and this can conveniently be done by the use of a plate or sheet 'of metal, cardboard,

.or other material a little larger than the cell,l

forced down into the same from above'to about the point shown in Fig. 5.

With the use of my improved building block, or with the use of a plate-like ledge, as above described, a reinforced block wall is built as follows: The blocks a, I), c of the lower course are laid as shown in Fi .2, probably with cement or motar between iem as shownv at m, and their various notches 10, 11 and 12 will register with each other and constitute an open groove along the top of the4 course laid. Into this groove is placed the reinforce element 15., which may be a single bar or band running the entire length of the wall if the latter be straight, possibly around angles therein at the corners of the wall, orthe reinforce might be a bent rod or bar if the wall' were curved as shown in Fig. 3. If the ledge 18 be formed as a part of the block, the reinforce can be placed inthis continuous groove as soon as the course is finished; but if saidledge is not a part of the block, then the plate 16 shown in Fig. 6 must be pushed down into cell 6 to a point below the bottom of the groove described, so as to make a pocket at the upper-end of the cell for the reception of the cement or mortar 19. Thereafter the reinforce 15 is put in place, and then i cement or mortar applied to completely si' round the reinforce as at 19 and carri over the upper edges of all walls and par tions of the blocks, throughout the coui being laid, as indicated at u in Fig. 1. T blocks d and e of the next course are thy laid upon the blocks of the first cours` vpreferably breaking joint therewith shown in Fig. 2, and the operation abo-r described is repeated. Thus is built up wall which has all blocks of each cour bonded or tied by a reinforcing element 3 which connects them in the manner di scribed, and therefore the wall itself is r inforced at each horizontal line or junctuil u between the several courses. The reir forcing element may vbe continuous, or it maA be in lengths which lap each other or breaL joint, and as above stated I do not wish t be limited to the character of the reinforc itself. In rough structures such as solo walls no additional treatment is absolutely neces sary. The outer and inner faces of th: complete wall may be plastered or otherwise treated to give them proper finish. What I claim'is: 1. A hollow building block having its sidri walls notched at the edges to receive a course. of reinforcing rods, and a means for providing a transverse bottom to support a layer of bonding material about the inserted reinforce, and comprising a plate inserted into? the respective chamber of the block to a posi-z tion below the bottom of the'notches and: having upturned edges by which it is frictionally held in position between the wallsg of the block and thereby forming a pocket to receive a cement embedding the reinforce.

2. A hollow building block having its side walls notched at the edges to receive a course i of reinforcing rods, and a means for pro-j' viding a transverse bottom in the respective chamber and below the bottom ofthe notches to support a layer of bonding material about WILLIAM W. GRIFFIN.

-Witnesses:

J. B. LAMPHERE, CARROLL GRIFFIN.

EST AVAILABLE CC); 

